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In immunology, autoimmunity is the system of immune responses of an organism against its own healthy cells, tissues and other normal body constituents. [1] [2] Any disease resulting from this type of immune response is termed an "autoimmune disease".
Immunosuppressive drugs have the potential to cause immunodeficiency, which can increase susceptibility to opportunistic infection and decrease cancer immunosurveillance. [9] Immunosuppressants may be prescribed when a normal immune response is undesirable, such as in autoimmune diseases. [10]
Vulnerability to infection: By suppressing immune reactions (which is one of the main reasons for their use in allergies), steroids may cause infections to flare up, notably candidiasis. [ 36 ] Pregnancy: Corticosteroids have a low but significant teratogenic effect, causing a few birth defects per 1,000 pregnant women treated.
Conventionally, a leukocytosis exceeding 50,000 WBC/mm 3 with a significant increase in early neutrophil precursors is referred to as a leukemoid reaction. [2] The peripheral blood smear may show myelocytes, metamyelocytes, promyelocytes, and rarely myeloblasts; however, there is a mixture of early mature neutrophil precursors, in contrast to the immature forms typically seen in acute leukemia.
Bone marrow suppression due to anti-cancer chemotherapy is much harder to treat and often involves hospital admission, strict infection control, and aggressive use of intravenous antibiotics at the first sign of infection. [7] G-CSF is used clinically (see Neutropenia) but tests in mice suggest it may lead to bone loss. [8] [9]
Immunotherapy or biological therapy is the treatment of disease by activating or suppressing the immune system.Immunotherapies designed to elicit or amplify an immune response are classified as activation immunotherapies, while immunotherapies that reduce or suppress are classified as suppression immunotherapies.
The greatest risk period for the occurrence of infection is in the initial few months after the start of new drug therapy, since many drug therapies further suppress the normal immune response. [31] Infections (and "adverse events" for all diseases) are graded by a standardized scale. [32]
However, as of 2015 it is known that patients treated with checkpoint blockade (specifically CTLA-4 blocking antibodies), or a combination of check-point blocking antibodies, are at high risk of having immune-related adverse events such as dermatologic, gastrointestinal, endocrine, or hepatic autoimmune reactions. [102]